The United Nations on Thursday extended its heartfelt sympathy to the government and people of Ethiopia over the recent Ethiopian Airlines plane crash off the Mediterranean coast of Lebanon, The Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission of Africa (ECA), Abdoulie Janneh, conveyed the sympathy message at the opening of the 16th Ordinary Session of the African Union (AU) Executive Council in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

A copy of the message, which was ready by the UN top official, was made available to the Pan African News Agency (PANA) in New York, US.

Janneh described the crash as ‘a very distressing and painful incident’.

‘This dreadful incident gives additional poignancy to the sadness and anguish that we in the United Nations feel about the recent earthquake in Haiti where there was tremendous loss of life amongst were several of our colleagues serving in that country,” he stated.

‘We join the world in mourning the loss of lives in these two events,” the UN official added.

PANA recalls that Ethiopian Airlines plane, Flight ET409, a Boeing 737-800 bound for Addis Ababa, crashed into the Mediterranean four minutes after takeoff from Beirut Rafik Hariri International Airport, killing about 90 passengers and crew members.